CASES of Scots youngsters being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease have soared by 75% in little over a decade, according to new research that points to changes in diet and low levels of vitamin D for the trend.

The Edinburgh University study found that between 2003 and 2008, 436 under-16s in Scotland were diagnosed with the condition, up from 260 cases when it was last monitored between 1990 and 1995.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is the umbrella term for a group of incurable, chronic bowel disorders including Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis – the condition which forced Scotland captain Darren Fletcher to take indefinite sick leave from professional football last year. It also includes inflammatory bowel disease unclassified (IBDU), a colon disorder which emerges in childhood but lacks the distinguishing features for doctors to diagnose it as either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

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Meanwhile, a US study pub-lished today claims concentrated milk fat used in junk food may be behind soaring rates of IBD. Researchers in Chicago found genetically susceptible mice fed a diet high in milk fat tripled the rate at which they developed colitis.